Getting my pilgrim credencial (2017)

In addition to a government-issued passport, pilgrims require a credencial, a pilgrim passportthat gets stamped at every stop on their Camino with sellos (carimbos in Portuguese) and serves as proof they walked, cycled or rode the required distances to earn the compostela upon arrival in Santiago de Compostela. If a pilgrim is on foot, they require a minimum of one stamp per day, and require at least two stamps per day for the last 100km.

Overall, I liked this credencial a lot. However, two things to keep in mind:

The spaces for sellos/carimbos are small. Too small, in fact, for a lot of normal-sized sellos. This leads to a crowded credencial. For most people, this will not be an issue, but I plan to make another credencial poster and this will greatly improve the degree of difficulty.

There overall amount of space is limited. I admit that I go sello-crazy and will get a stamp at almost every stop. For a 12-day Camino, I filled one credencial. Again, this isn’t really an issue, but, for a longer Camino, I would definitely need more than one credencial. I saw extra credencials all over the place, with many of the municipal albergues selling them for €2.

For what it’s worth, there would be a lot more space for sellos, but there are seven panels of maps. Interesting, but I could use that space!

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